Hair brushes in general are known in the art. Similarly, hair brushes having retractable bristles or self-cleaning features, and features for added comfort, are also known in the art. For example, one type of a self-cleaning hair brush includes retractable bristles that enable the user to remove strands of hair from a top of the brush once the bristles have been retracted. One such brush is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,416 and utilizes a brush head, a spring, and a lever to retract the bristles relative to the head of the brush. More specifically, the brush head is disposed at an end of the lever which pivots about a pivot point in the body of the brush. The spring biases the lever and hence the bristle head to a position such that the bristles of the brush are in a retracted position. The user extends the bristles for use by depressing the lever against the bias of the spring and forcing the bristles out from the head of the brush.
Another brush having retractable bristles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,877 and includes a base, an actuation member, and a plurality of bristles. The bristles are attached to the actuation member which is slidably attached to the base. The bristles are retracted by pulling the actuation member toward the user relative to the base. By doing so, the bristles, which are positioned perpendicular to the actuation member in the extended position, are forced to a parallel position relative to the actuation member and hence are retracted into the base/actuation member. The bristles are extended by pushing the actuation member into the base, thereby positioning the bristles perpendicular to the actuation member.
Another brush having retractable bristles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,563 and includes body, a backing member, springs, a base, an actuating element, and a plurality of bristles. The bristles are attached to the backing member, which is operatively attached to the actuating element. The springs are located underneath and bias the backing member against the body of the brush such that the bristles extend from the body. The bristles are retracted into the body by depressing the actuating element against the bias of the springs. To extend the bristles from the body, the user releases the depressed actuating element such that the bias of the springs returns the backing member against the body of the brush, and hence extends the bristles.
Another brush having retractable bristles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,563 and includes an outer tubular member having apertures and an inner tubular member. A plurality of bristles are rotatably mounted on the inner tubular member and extend through the apertures. By rotation of the outer tubular member relative to the inner tubular member, the bristles, depending on the direction of rotation, either extend from or retract into the outer tubular member.
These types of retractable bristle/self-cleaning hair brushes, however, each have one or more problematic aspects or features. For example, these brushes all require a complicated and multi-piece mechanism to effectuate retraction and extension of the bristles, making the brushes costly to manufacture and more susceptible to breakage and malfunction. Similarly, these brushes are not designed for the comfort of the user and, therefore, have features not optimal for user comfort.
Moreover, most round brushes with bristle-retraction mechanisms require the use of both hands to retract the bristles. This is particularly problematic when the brush gets tangled in the user's hair, for example, during blow-drying. Brushes with bristle-retracting mechanisms permit the user to retract the bristles into the brush head, thereby untangling the brush from the hair. But this is cumbersome to do when using most brushes with known bristle-retracting mechanisms. This is because the user must free her other hand (the one not holding the brush), for example by setting down a hair dryer held in that hand, and then reach around the back of her head to operate the bristle-retracting mechanism.
Accordingly, it can be seen that needs exist for hair brushes with improved bristle-retracting features, preferably providing for one-handed use. It is to the provision of solutions to these and other problems that the present invention is primarily directed.